Nepal has used the opening of the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, to press for mountain regions to be built into the formal United Nations climate process, with Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal leading the country's delegation at the conference, which runs from November 9 to 20.

Source: Radio Nepal (Public Service Broadcasting)

Addressing the opening session, Khanal set out three core demands: keeping the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit within reach with particular attention to the Himalayas, establishing a dedicated action plan or work programme on mountains and climate change, and integrating mountain-specific indicators into the Global Goal on Adaptation and the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance. These are Nepal's negotiating requests at the start of the conference; COP31 has not adopted them.

Source: Nepal TV World

"After the disaster, we received an outpouring of sympathy. This is the time to put sympathy into the system, promises into action," Khanal told the opening plenary, referring to the devastating August 26 Bhote Koshi floods, which he described as a "Himalayan tsunami" and cited as evidence of Nepal's vulnerability to climate-driven mountain disasters, IANS reported.

Source: IANS via Hi India

Radio Nepal reported that, collaborating with Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan, Nepal successfully pushed to place mountain issues onto the COP31 formal agenda. At a high-level side event co-hosted by the three countries, Khanal called for predictable and accessible adaptation finance and for mountain resilience to be embedded across the UN climate process.

On Tuesday, Khanal also inaugurated Nepal's national pavilion at the conference, which showcases the country's climate ambitions, biodiversity conservation record and community-based adaptation work, the Peoples' Review reported. On the sidelines, he held bilateral talks with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos.

Source: Peoples' Review

Nepal's delegation will continue its meetings through the conference, and Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment Geeta Chaudhary is scheduled to lead the delegation in the second week, from November 15 to 20, Radio Nepal reported.